Myths  of  the  Cherokees. 


jj^MEs  m:ooney. 


Reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  No.  2,  July-Sept.,  1888. 


CAMBRIDGE : 
1888. 


■;tT-vr  ■-***■ 


Digitized  by  tlie  Internet  Arcliive 

in  2011  witli  funding  from 

University  of  Nortli  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/mythsofcherokeesOOmoori 


THE   JOURNAL   OF 

AMERICAN  FOLK-LORE. 

Vol.  I.— JULY-SEPTEMBER,  1888.  — No.  II. 


MYTHS   OF   THE   CHEROKEES. 

The  Cherokees  are  undoubtedly  the  most  important  tribe  in  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  interesting,  being  exceeded 
in  point  of  numbers  only  by  the  Sioux,  and  possibly  also  by  the 
Chippewas,  while  in  regard  to  wealth,  intelligence,  and  general  adap- 
tability to  civilization  they  are  far  ahead  of  any  other  of  our  tribes. 
Their  original  home  was  the  beautiful  mountain  region  of  the  South- 
ern Alleghanies,  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee, 
and  Alabama,  with  their  settlements  chiefly  upon  the  head-waters  of 
the  Savannah  and  the  Tennessee.  They  first  came  into  collision 
with  the  advancing  white  population  in  1760,  and  from  that  time 
their  history  is  a  constant  record  of  wars  and  land  cessions  until  the 
final  treaty  of  New  Echota  in  1835,  when  the  body  of  the  tribe  aban- 
doned their  homes  and  removed  to  the  Indian  Territory,  where  they 
are  now  known  as  the  "  Cherokee  Nation,"  and  number  about  sev- 
enteen thousand,  besides  several  thousand  adopted  Indians,  whites, 
and  negroes.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  a  few  hundred  were  allowed 
to  remain  behind,  on  individual  grants,  while  a  much  larger  number 
managed  to  elude  the  clutches  of  the  soldiers  in  the  general  round- 
up, and  fled  to  the  mountains.  Through  the  efforts  of  William  H. 
Thomas,  an  influential  trader  among  them,  most  of  these  were  after- 
ward concentrated  on  adjacent  tracts  in  Western  North  Carolina. 
They  are  now  known  as  the  "  Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,"  and 
number  in  all  about  two  thousand,  of  whom  twelve  hundred  are  set- 
tled on  a  reservation  in  Swain  and  Jackson  counties  ;  three  hundred 
are  at  Cheowah,  some  thirty  miles  farther  west ;  while  the  remainder 
are  scattered  mixed-bloods,  retaining  but  few  of  the  Indian  charac- 
teristics. Excepting  these  last,  very  few  know  enough  English  to 
converse  intelligently.  Remaining  in  their  native  mountains,  away 
from  railroads  and  progressive  white  civilization,  they  retain  many 
customs  and  traditions  which  have  been  lost  by  those  who  removed 
to  the  West.  They  still  keep  up  their  old  dances  and  ball-plays, — 
although  these  have  sadly  degenerated,  —  their  medicine-men,  con- 


98  Journal  of  American  FolkrLore. 

/ 

juring,  songs,  and  legends.  The  Cherokee  syllabary,  invented  by 
one  of  the  tribe  about  sixty  years  ago,  has  enabled  them  to  preserve 
in  a  written  form  much  which  in  other  tribes  depends  upon  oral  tra- 
dition, and  soon  disappears  before  the  pressure  of  civilization.  The 
fact  that  many  of  these  legends  are  connected  with  mountains, 
streams,  and  water-falls  with  which  they  have  been  familiar  from 
childhood  also  goes  a  long  way  toward  keeping  the  stories  fresh  in 
memory. 

The  following  stories  are  specimens  of  a  number  collected,  together 
with  other  material,  for  the  Bureau  of  Ethnolog)^,  in  the  summer  of 
1887.  The  first  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  Cherokee  myths 
of  a  sacred  character,  and  in  the  old  times  any  one  who  heard  it, 
with  all  the  explanation,  was  obliged  to  "go  to  water"  after  the 
recital;  that  is,  to  bathe  in  the  running  stream  at  daybreak,  before 
eating,  while  the  medicine-man  went  through  his  mystic  ceremonies 
on  the  bank.  I  heard  the  story  in  its  entirety  from  two  of  the 
best  story-tellers,  one  of  whom  is  a  medicine-man,  and  the  other 
is  supposed  to  be  skilled  in  all  their  hunting  secrets.  Neither  of 
them  speak  English.  In  addition,  so  many  beliefs  and  customs  turn 
upon  this  story  of  Kanati  that  I  probably  heard  each  of  the  prin- 
cipal incidents  at  least  half  a  dozen  times.  There  is  a  sequel  to 
the  story,  which  goes  on  to  tell  how,  after  the  departure  of  Kanati 
and  his  sons,  the  people  were  nearly  starving  because  they  could 
find  no  game,  until  they  sent  for  the  boys,  who  came  and  taught 
them  the  songs  and  ceremonies  with  which  to  call  up  the  deer. 
These  songs  are  also  among  my  notes.  They  taught  the  people  no 
bear-songs,  because  the  bear  was  still  a  man.  The  heroes  of  this 
story  are  in  some  way  connected  with  the  thunder,  and  are  some- 
times confounded  with  the  Thunder  Boys,  who  defeated  a  celebrated 
gambler  known  as  U°tsaiyi'  or  "Brass,"  but,  until  more  information 
is  at  hand,  I  prefer  to  treat  them  as  distinct  characters.  In  the 
Cherokee  words  the  vowels  have  the  Latin  sound,  as  in  the  alphabet 
of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology :  tl  is  pronounced  as  in  but,  a  as  in  law, 
«"  and  7/"  nasal,  and  d  and  g  almost  like  t  and  k. 

KAN.\TI    AND    SELU  :    THE    ORIGIN    OF    CORN    AND    GAME. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  this  is  what  the  old  men  told  me  they  had 
heard  when  they  were  boys. 

Long  ages  ago,  soon  after  the  world  was  made,  a  hunter  and  his 
wife  lived  at  Looking-glass  Mountain,^  with  their  only  child,  a  little 

'  Called  by  the  Cherokees  Tsuwa'teldu'°I  or  Tsuwa't^Ida,  in  Transylvania 
County,  North  Carolina,  near  Brevard.  The  peculiar  appearance  of  this  moun- 
tain, with  its  precipitous  face  seamed  by  vertical  strata  of  various  colors,  has 
caused  a  number  of  strange  ideas  and  stories  to  centre  about  the  location. 


Myths  of  the  Cherokees.  99 

boy.  The  father's  name  was  Kanati,  "The  Lucky  Hunter,"  and  his 
wife  was  called  Selu,  "Corn."  No  matter  when  Kanati  went  into 
the  woods,  he  never  failed  to  bring  back  a  load  of  game,  which 
his  wife  cut  up  and  prepared,  washing  the  blood  from  the  meat 
in  the  river  near  the  house.  The  little  boy  used  to  play  down  by 
the  river  every  day,  and  one  morning  the  old  people  thought  they 
heard  laughing  and  talking  in  the  bushes,  as  though  there  were  two 
children  there.  When  the  boy  came  home  at  night,  his  parents 
asked  who  had  been  playing  with  him  all  day.  "  He  comes  out  of 
the  water,"  said  the  boy,  "  and  he  calls  himself  my  elder  brother. 
He  says  his  mother  was  cruel  to  him,  and  threw  him  into  the  river." 
Then  they  knew  that  the  strange  boy  had  sprung  from  the  blood  of 
the  game  which  Selu  had  washed  off  at  the  river's  edge. 

Every  day,  when  the  little  boy  went  out  to  play,  the  other  would 
join  him  ;  but,  as  he  always  went  back  into  the  water,  the  old  people 
never  had  a  chance  to  see  him.  At  last,  one  evening,  Kanati  said 
to  his  son,  "To-morrow,  when  the  other  boy  comes  to  play  with 
you,  get  him  to  wrestle  with  you,  and  when  you  have  your  arms 
around  him  hold  on  to  him  and  call  for  us."  The  boy  promised  to  do 
as  he  was  told  ;  so  the  ne.xt  day,  as  soon  as  his  playmate  appeared, 
he  challenged  him  to  a  wrestling-match.  The  other  agreed  at  once, 
but  as  soon  as  they  had  their  arms  around  each  other  Kanati's  boy 
began  to  scream  for  his  father.  The  old  folks  at  once  came  running 
down,  and  when  the  wild  boy  saw  them  he  struggled  to  free  himself, 
and  cried  out,  "  Let  me  go  !  You  threw  me  away  !  "  But  his  brother 
held  on  until  his  parents  reached  the  spot,  when  they  seized  the  wild 
boy  and  took  him  home  with  them.  They  kept  him  in  the  house 
until  they  had  tamed  him,  but  he  was  always  wild  and  artful  in  his 
disposition,  and  was  the  leader  of  his  brother  in  every  mischief. 
Before  long  the  old  people  discovered  that  he  was  one  of  those  per- 
sons endowed  with  magic  powers  {addivehi),  and  they  called  him 
Inage  UtdsiViH ,  "He  who  grew  up  Wild." 

Whenever  Kanati  went  into  the  mountains  he  always  brought 
back  a  fat  buck  or  doe,  or  may  be  a  couple  of  turkeys.  One  day  the 
wild  boy  said  to  his  brother,  "  I  wonder  where  our  father  gets  all 
that  game  ;  let 's  follow  him  next  time,  and  find  out."  A  few  days 
afterward,  Kanati  took  a  bow  and  some  feathers  in  bis  hand,  and 
started  off.  The  boys  waited  a  little  while,  and  then  started  after 
him,  keeping  out  of  sight,  until  they  saw  their  father  go  into  a 
swamp  where  there  were  a  great  many  of  the  reeds  (wdtike)  that 
hunters  use  to  make  arrow-shafts.  Then  the  wild  boy  changed  him- 
self into  a  puff  of  bird's  down  (a/si'/i7),  which  the  wind  took  up  and 
carried  until  it  alighted  upon  Kanati's  shoulder  just  as  he  entered 
the  swamp,  but  Kanati  knew  nothing  about  it.     The  hunter  then  cut 


loo  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore. 

reeds,  fitted  the  feathers  to  them,  and  made  some  arrows,  and  the 
wild  boy  —  in  his  other  shape  —  thought,  "I  wonder  what  those 
things  are  for."  When  Kanati  had  his  arrows  finished,  he  came 
out  of  the  swamp  and  went  on  again.  The  wind  blew  the  down 
from  his  shoulder ;  it  fell  in  the  woods,  when  the  wild  boy  took  his 
right  shape  again,  and  went  back  and  told  his  brother  what  he  had 
seen.  Keeping  out  of  sight  of  their  father,  they  followed  him  up 
the  mountain  until  he  stopped  at  a  certain  place  and  lifted  up  a  large 
rock.  At  once  a  buck  came  running  out,  which  Kanati  shot,  and 
then,  lifting  it  upon  his  back,  he  started  home  again.  "  Oho  ! "  said 
the  boys,  "  he  keeps  all  the  deer  shut  up  in  that  hole,  and  whenever 
he  wants  venison  he  just  lets  one  out,  and  kills  it  with  those  things 
he  made  in  the  swamp."  They  hurried  and  reached  home  before 
their  father,  who  had  the  heavy  deer  to  carry,  so  that  he  did  not 
know  they  had  followed  him. 

A  few  days  after,  the  boys  went  back  to  the  swamp,  cut  some 
reeds  and  made  seven  arrows,  and  then  started  up  the  mountain  to 
where  their  father  kept  the  game.  When  they  got  to  the  place  they 
lifted  up  the  rock,  and  a  deer  came  running  out.  Just  as  they  drew 
back  to  shoot  it,  another  came  out,  and  then  another,  and  another, 
until  the  boys  got  confused  and  forgot  what  they  were  about.  In 
those  days  all  the  deer  had  their  tails  hanging  down,  like  other 
animals,  but,  as  a  buck  was  running  past,  the  wild  boy  struck  its  tail 
with  his  arrow  so  that  it  stood  straight  out  behind.  This  pleased 
the  boys,  and  when  the  next  one  ran  by,  the  other  brother  struck 
his  tail  so  that  it  pointed  upward.  The  boys  thought  this  was  good 
sport,  and  when  the  next  one  ran  past,  the  wild  boy  struck  his  tail 
so  that  it  stood  straight  up,  and  his  brother  struck  the  next  one  so 
hard  with  his  arrow  that  the  deer's  tail  was  curled  over  his  back. 
The  boys  thought  this  was  very  pretty,  and  ever  since  the  deer  has 
carried  his  tail  over  his  back. 

The  deer  continued  to  pass  until  the  last  one  had  come  out  of  the 
hole  and  escaped  into  the  forest.  Then  followed  droves  of  raccoons, 
rabbits,  and  all  the  other  four-footed  animals.  Last  came  great 
flocks  of  turkeys,  pigeons,  and  partridges  that  darkened  the  air  like 
a  cloud,  and  made  such  a  noise  with  their  wings  that  Kanati,  sitting 
at  home,  heard  the  sound  like  distant  thunder  on  the  mountains,  and 
said  to  himself,  "  My  bad  boys  have  got  into  trouble.  I  must  go 
and  see  what  they  are  doing." 

So  Kanati  went  up  the  mountain,  and  when  he  came  to  the  place 
where  he  kept  the  game  he  found  the  two  boys  standing  by  the  rock, 
and  all  the  birds  and  animals  were  gone.  He  was  furious,  but, 
without  saying  a  word,  he  went  down  into  the  cave  and  kicked  the 
covers  off  four  jars  in  one  corner,  when  out  swarmed  bed-bugs,  fleas. 


Myths  of  tJie  Cherokces.  loi 

lice,  and  gnats  {kdluydsti,  tsu'ktV,  timV  dasi'-  'ml),  and  got  all  over 
the  boys.  They  screamed  with  pain  and  terror,  and  tried  to  beat  off 
the  insects  ;  but  the  thousands  of  insects  crawled  over  them,  and  bit 
and  btung  them,  until  both  dropped  down  nearly  dead  from  exhaus- 
tion. Kanati  stood  looking  on  until  he  thought  they  had  been  pun- 
ished enough,  when  he  brushed  off  the  vermin,  and  proceeded  to  give 
the  boys  a  lecture.  "Now,  you  rascals,"  said  he,  "you  have  always 
had  plenty  to  eat,  and  never  had  to  work  for  it.  Whenever  you  were 
hungry,  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  come  up  here  and  get  a  deer  or  a  tur- 
key, and  bring  it  home  for  your  mother  to  cook.  But  now  you  have 
let  out  all  the  animals,  and  after  this,  when  you  want  a  deer  to  eat, 
you  will  have  to  hunt  all  over  the  woods  for  it,  and  then  may  be  not 
find  one.  Go  home  now  to  your  mother,  while  I  see  if  I  can  find 
something  to  eat  for  supper." 

When  the  boys  reached  home  again  they  were  very  tired  and  hun- 
gry, and  asked  their  mother  for  something  to  eat.  "  There  is  no 
meat,"  said  Selu,  "  but  wait  a  little  while,  and  I  will  get  you  some- 
thing." So  she  took  a  basket  and  started  out  to  the  provision-house 
{tV'wdtd'li).  This  provision-house  was  built  upon  poles  high  up  from 
the  ground,  to  keep  it  out  of  the  reach  of  animals,  and  had  a  ladder 
to  climb  up  by,  and  one  door,  but  no  other  opening.  Every  day, 
when  Selu  got  ready  to  cook  the  dinner,  she  would  go  out  to  the  pro- 
vision-house with  a  basket,  and  bring  it  back  full  of  corn  and  beans. 
The  boys  had  never  been  inside  the  provision-house,  and  wondered 
where  all  the  corn  and  beans  could  come  from,  as  the  house  was  not 
a  very  large  one  ;  so,  as  soon  as  Selu  went  out  of  the  door,  the  wild 
boy  said  to  his  brother,  "  Let's  go  and  see  what  she  does."  They 
ran  around  and  climbed  up  at  the  back  of  the  provision-house,  and 
pulled  out  a  piece  of  clay  from  between  the  logs,  so  that  they  could 
look  in.  There  they  saw  Selu  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
with  the  basket  in  front  of  her  on  the  floor.  Leaning  over  the  bas- 
ket, she  rubbed  her  stomach  —  so — and  the  basket  was  half-full  of 
corn.  Then  she  rubbed  under  her  arm-pits  —  so  —  and  the  basket 
was  full  to  the  top  with  beans. ^  The  brothers  looked  at  each  other, 
and  said,  "  This  will  never  do  ;  our  mother  is  a  witch.  If  we  eat 
any  of  that  it  will  poison  us.     We  must  kill  her." 

When  the  boys  came  back  into  the  house,  Selu  knew  their  thoughts 
before  they  spoke."  "  So  you  are  going  to  kill  me !  "  said  Selu. 
"Yes,"  said  the  boys;  "you  are  a  witch."  "Well,"  said  their 
mother,  "when  you  have  killed  me,  clear  a  large  piece  of  ground  in 
front  of  the  house,  and  drag  my  body  seven  times  around  the  circle. 

'  This  rubbing  the  body  to  procure  provisions  appears  also  in  another  Chero- 
kee story,  "  The  Bear  Man." 

^  This  mind-readin<r  is  also  common  in  Cherokee  and  other  Indian  stories. 


102  Journal  of  Ame7'ica7t  Folk-Lore. 

Then  drag  me  seven  times  over  the  ground  inside  the  circle,  and 
stay  up  all  night  and  watch,  and  in  the  morning  you  will  have  plenty 
of  corn."  Then  the  boys  killed  her  with  their  clubs,  and  cut  off  her 
head,  and  put  it  up  on  the  roof  of  the  house,  and  told  it  to  look  for 
her  husband.  Then  they  set  to  work  to  clear  the  ground  in  front  of 
the  house,  but,  instead  of  clearing  the  whole  piece,  they  cleared  only 
seven  little  spots.  This  is  the  reason  why  corn  now  grows  only  in 
a  few  places  instead  of  over  the  whole  world.  Then  they  dragged 
the  body  of  Selu  around  the  circles,  and  wherever  her  blood  fell  on 
the  ground  the  corn  sprang  up.  But,  instead  of  dragging  her  body 
seven  times  across  the  ground,  they  did  this  only  twice,  which  is  the 
reason  why  the  Indians  still  work  their  crop  but  twice.  The  two 
brothers  sat  up  and  watched  their  corn  all  night,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing it  was  fully  grown  and  ripe. 

When  Kanati  came  home  at  last,  he  looked  around,  but  could  not 
see  Selu  anywhere,  so  he  asked  the  boys  where  their  mother  was. 
"  She  was  a  witch,  and  we  killed  her,"  said  the  boys  ;  "  there  is  her 
head  up  there  on  top  of  the  house."  When  Kanati  saw  his  wife's 
head  on  the  roof  he  was  very  angry,  and  said,  "I  won't  stay  with 
you  any  longer.  I  am  going  to  the  Wa'haya  [Wolf]  people."  So  he 
started  off,  but,  before  he  had  gone  far,  the  wild  boy  changed  him- 
self again  to  a  tuft  of  down,  which  fell  on  Kanati's  shoulder.  When 
Kanati  reached  the  settlement  of  the  Wolf  people,  they  were  hold- 
ing a  council  in  the  town-house  ia's'\i'\  egxva).  He  went  in  and  sat 
down,  with  the  tuft  of  bird's  down  on  his  shoulder.  When  the  Wolf 
chief  asked  him  his  business,  he  said,  "  I  have  two  bad  boys  at 
home,  and  I  want  you  to  go  in  seven  days  from  now  and  play  against 
them."  Kanati  spoke  as  though  he  wanted  them  to  play  a  game  of 
ball,  but  the  wolves  knew  that  he  meant  for  them  to  come  and  kill 
the  two  boys.  The  wolves  promised  to  go.  Then  the  bird's  down 
blew  off  from  Kanati's  shoulder,  and  the  smoke  carried  it  up  through 
the  hole  in  the  roof  of  the  town-house.  When  it  came  down  on  the 
ground  outside,  the  wild  boy  took  his  right  shape  again,  and  went 
home  and  told  his  brother  all  that  he  had  heard  in  the  town-house. 
When  Kanati  left  the  Wolf  people,  he  did  not  return  home,  but  went 
on  farther. 

The  boys  then  began  to  get  ready  for  the  wolves,  and  the  wild 
boy  —  the  magician  —  told  his  brother  what  to  do.  They  ran  around 
the  house  in  a  wide  circle  until  they  had  made  a  trail  all  around  it, 
excepting  on  the  side  from  which  the  wolves  would  come,  where 
they  left  a  small  open  space.^     Then  they  made  four  large  bundles 

1  When  the  conjurer,  by  his  magic  spells,  coils  the  great  serpent  around  the 
house  of  a  sick  man,  to  keep  oS  the  -witches,  he  is  always  careful  to  leave  a  small 
open  space  between  the  head  and  tail  of  the  snake,  so  that  the  members  of  the 
family  can  go  down  to  the  spring  to  get  water. 


Myths  of  the  Cherokees.  103 

of  arrows,  and  placed  them  at  four  different  points  on  the  outside  of 
the  circle,  after  which  they  hid  themselves  in  the  woods  and  waited 
for  the  wolves.  On  the  appointed  day  a  whole  army  of  wolves  came 
and  surrounded  the  house,  to  kill  the  boys.  The  wolves  did  not  no- 
tice the  trail  around  the  house,  because  they  came  in  where  the  boys 
had  left  the  opening,  but  the  moment  they  were  inside  the  circle 
the  trail  changed  to  a  high  fence,  and  shut  them  in.  Then  the  boys 
on  the  outside  took  their  arrows  and  began  shooting  them  down, 
and,  as  the  wolves  could  not  jump  over  the  fence,  they  were  all 
killed  excepting  a  few,  which  escaped  through  the  opening  into  a 
great  swamp  close  by.  Then  the  boys  ran  around  the  swamp,  and 
a  circle  of  fire  sprang  up  in  their  tracks,  and  set  fire  to  the  grass  and 
bushes,  and  burned  up  nearly  all  the  other  wolves.  Only  two  or 
three  got  away,  and  these  were  all  the  wolves  which  were  left  in  the 
whole  world.  ^ 

Soon  afterward  some  strangers  from  a  distance,  who  heard  that 
the  brothers  had  a  wonderful  grain  from  which  they  made  bread, 
came  to  ask  for  some ;  for  none  but  Selu  and  her  family  had  ever 
known  corn  before.  The  boys  gave  them  seven  grains  of  corn, 
which  they  told  them  to  plant  the  next  night  on  their  way  home,  sit- 
ting up  all  night  to  watch  the  corn,  which  would  have  seven  ripe 
ears  in  the  morning.  These  they  were  to  plant  the  next  night,  and 
watch  in  the  same  way  ;  and  so  on  every  night  until  they  reached 
home,  when  they  would  have  corn  enough  to  supply  the  whole  peo- 
ple. The  strangers  lived  seven  days'  journey  away.  They  took  the 
seven  grains  of  corn,  and  started  home  again.  That  night  they 
planted  the  seven  grains,  and  watched  all  through  the  darkness  until 
morning,  when  they  saw  seven  tall  stalks,  each  stalk  bearing  a  ripened 
ear.  They  gathered  the  ears  with  gladness,  and  went  on  their  way. 
The  next  night  they  planted  all  their  corn,  and  guarded  it  with 
wakeful  care  until  daybreak,  when  they  found  an  abundant  increase. 
But  the  way  was  long  and  the  sun  was  hot,  and  the  people  grew 
tired.  On  the  last  night  before  reaching  home  they  fell  asleep,  and 
in  the  morning  the  corn  they  had  planted  had  not  even  sprouted. 
They  brought  with  them  to  their  settlement  what  corn  they  had 
left,  and  planted  it,  and  with  care  and  attention  were  able  to  raise  a 
crop.  But  ever  since  the  corn  must  be  watched  and  tended  through 
half  the  year,  which  before  would  grow  and  ripen  in  a  night. 

As  Kanati  did  not  return,  the  boys  at  last  concluded  to  go  and  see 
if  they  could  find  him.  The  wild  boy  got  a  wheel  {ttkwalcliU),  and 
rolled  it  toward  the  direction  where  it  is  always  night.^     In  a  little 

1  In  Cherokee  mythology,  the  wolf  is  the  watch-dog  and  servant  of  Kanati, 
and  no  hunter  who  holds  to  the  old  ways  would  ever  dare  to  kill  one. 

2  Usuhiyi :  the  common  word  is  lutideligu,  "  where  it  sets."     These  archaic 


I04  journal  of  American  Folk-Lore. 

while  the  wheel  came  rolling  back,  and  the  boys  knew  their  father 
was  not  there.  Then  the  wild  boy  rolled  it  to  the  south  and  to  the 
north,  and  each  time  the  wheel  came  back  to  him,  and  they  knew 
their  father  was  not  there.  Then  he  rolled  it  toward  the  Sun  Land, 
(another  archaic  name),  and  it  did  not  return.  "  Our  father  is  there," 
said  the  wild  boy,  "  let  us  go  and  find  him."  So  the  two  brothers 
set  off  toward  the  east,  and  after  travelling  a  long  time  they  came 
upon  Kanati,  walking  along,  with  a  little  dog  by  his  side.  "  You  bad 
boys,"  said  their  father,  "have  you  come  here.'"  "Yes,"  they  an- 
swered ;  "  we  always  accomplish  what  we  start  out  to  do,  —  we  are 
men  ! "  "  This  dog  overtook  me  four  days  ago,"  then  said  Kanati ; 
but  the  boys  knew  that  the  dog  was  the  wheel  which  they  had  sent 
after  him  to  find  him.  "Well,"  said  Kanati,  "as  you  have  found 
me,  we  may  as  well  travel  together,  but  I  will  take  the  lead."  ^ 

Soon  they  came  to  a  swamp,  and  Kanati  told  them  there  was  a 
dangerous  thing  there,  and  they  must  keep  away  from  it.  Then  he 
went  on  ahead,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  out  of  sight  the  wild  boy  said 
to  his  brother,  "  Come  and  let  us  see  what  is  in  the  swamp."  They 
went  in  together,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  swamp  they  found  a  large 
panther,  asleep.  The  wild  boy  got  out  an  arrow,  and  shot  the  pan- 
ther in  the  side  of  the  head.  The  panther  turned  his  head,  and  the 
other  boy  shot  him  on  that  side.  He  turned  his  head  away  again, 
and  the  two  brothers  shot  together,  —  tiist,  tust,  tust !  But  the  pan- 
ther was  not  hurt  by  the  arrows,  and  paid  no  more  attention  to  the 
boys.  They  came  out  of  the  swamp,  and  soon  overtook  Kanati,  wait- 
ing for  them.  "Did  you  find  it  .'"asked  Kanati.  "Yes,"  said  the 
boys,  "  we  found  it,  but  it  never  hurt  us.  We  are  men  ! "  Kanati 
was  surprised,  but  said  nothing,  and  they  went  on  again. 

After  a  while  Kanati  turned  to  them,  and  said,^ "  Now  you  must 
be  careful.  We  are  coming  to  a  tribe  called  the  Unddtilski,  '  Cook- 
ers '  [z.  e.  Cannibals],  and  if  they  get  you  they  will  put  you  in  a  pot 
and  feast  on  you."  Then  he  went  on  ahead.  Soon  the  boys  came  to 
a  tree  which  had  been  struck  by  lightning,  and  the  wild  boy  directed 
his  brother  to  gather  some  of  the  splinters  from  the  tree,  and  told 
him  what  to  do  with  them.^  In  a  little  while  they  came  to  the  set- 
expressions  give  a  peculiar  beauty  to  the  stories,  which  is  lost  in  the  translation. 
As  the  interpreter  said  when  he  called  my  attention  to  it,  "  I  love  to  hear  these 
old  words." 

^  In  another  version  the  wheel  is  an  arrow,  which  the  wild  boy  shoots  toward 
the  four  cardinal  points,  and  finally  straight  up,  when  it  comes  back  no  more. 
When  they  get  above  the  sky  they  find  Kanati  and  Selu  sitting  together,  with  the 
arrow  sticking  in  the  ground  in  front  of  them. 

"  The  medicine-men  claim  to  do  wonderful  things  by  means  of  the  wood  of  a 
tree  which  has  been  struck  by  lightning.  Some  of  the  splinters  are  also  buried 
in  the  ground  in  the  fields,  to  make  the  corn  grow. 


Myths  of  the  Cherokees.  105 

tlement  of  the  cannibals,  who,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  boys,  came 
running  out,  crying,  "  Good  !  Here  are  two  nice,  fat  strangers. 
Now  we  '11  have  a  grand  feast !  "  They  caught  the  boys  and  dragged 
them  into  the  town-house,  and  sent  word  to  all  the  people  of  the  set- 
tlement to  come  to  the  feast.  They  made  up  a  great  fire,  filled  a 
large  pot  with  water  and  set  it  to  boiling,  and  then  seized  the  wild 
boy  and  threw  him  into  the  pot,  and  put  the  lid  on  it.  His  brother 
was  not  frightened  in  the  least,  and  made  no  attempt  to  escape,  but 
quietly  knelt  down  and  began  putting  the  splinters  into  the  fire,  as 
if  to  make  it  burn  better.  When  the  cannibals  thought  the  meat 
was  about  ready,  they  lifted  the  lid  from  the  pot,  and  that  instant  a 
blinding  light  filled  the  town-house,  and  the  lightning  began  to  dart 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  beating  down  the  cannibals  until  not  one 
of  them  was  left  alive.  Then  the  lightning  went  up  through  the 
smoke-hole,  and  the  next  moment  there  were  the  two  boys  standing 
outside  the  town-house  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  They 
went  on,  and  soon  met  Kanati,  who  seemed  much  surprised  to  see 
them,  and  said,  "  What !  are  you  here  again  .'  "  "  Oh,  yes,  we  never 
give  up.  We  are  great  men ! "  "  What  did  the  cannibals  do  to 
you  }  "  "  We  met  them,  and  they  brought  us  to  their  town-house, 
but  they  never  hurt  us."  Kanati  said  nothing  more,  and  they 
went  on. 

Kanati  soon  got  out  of  sight  of  the  boys,  but  they  kept  on  until 
they  came  to  the  end  of  the  world,  where  the  sun  comes  out.  The 
sky  was  just  coming  down  when  they  got  there,  but  they  waited  until 
it  went  up  again,  and  then  they  went  through  and  climbed  up  on  the 
other  side.i  There  they  found  Kanati  and  Selu  sitting  together. 
The  old  folks  received  them  kindly,  and  were  glad  to  see  them,  and 
told  them  they  might  stay  there  a  while,  but  then  they  must  go  to 
live  where  the  sun  goes  down.  The  boys  stayed  with  their  parents 
seven  days,  and  then  went  on  toward  the  sunset  land,  where  they 
are  still  living. 

A  number  of  the  incidents  in   this  story  have   parallels  in  the 

1  The  earth  is  a  flat  surface,  and  the  sky  is  an  arch  of  solid  rock  suspended 
above  it.  This  arch  rises  and  falls  continually,  so  that  the  space  at  the  point  of 
juncture  is  constantly  opening  and  closing,  like  a  pair  of  scissors.  The  sun  is 
a  man  (some  say  a  woman),  so  bright  that  no  one  can  look  at  him  long  enough  to 
see  his  exact  shape,  who  comes  through  the  eastern  opening  every  morning,  trav- 
els across  the  heavens,  and  disappears  through  the  western  opening,  returning  by 
night  to  the  starting-point.  This  was  discovered  by  seven  young  men  wlio  started 
out  to  find  where  the  sun  rises.  They  succeeded  in  passing  through  the  eastern 
opening,  but  on  their  return  one  was  crushed  bv  the  descending  rock,  and  only  six 
got  back  alive  to  tell  the  story.  Mr.  J.  Owen  Dorsey  has  found  the  same  theory 
of  the  sun  and  horizon  among  the  Omahas  and  Ponkas. 


io6  jfournal  of  American  Folk-Lore. 

Omaha  and  Ponka  myths  collected  by  Mr.  J.  Owen  Dorsey,  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  which  will  appear  in  the  forthcoming  Vol- 
ume VI.  Part  I.,  of  "  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology." 
In  one  of  these  stories,  "  The  Rabbit  and  the  Grizzly  Bear,"  the  rab- 
bit makes  a  boy,  who  proves  to  be  a  magician,  out  of  the  clotted 
blood  of  the  game  which  he  has  killed.  The  same  idea  appears  in 
the  Dakota  myth,  "The  Blood-Clots  Boy"  (pubHshed  in  the  "  lapi 
Oaye"  [Word  Carrier],  Chicago,  April  and  May,  1881).  In  the 
Omaha  story  of  "  Two-faces  and  the  Twin  Brothers,"  the  wild  boy 
is  caught  by  stratagem  by  his  father  and  brother,  but  ever  afterward 
is  constantly  enticing  his  brother  into  mischief.  The  magician,  who 
changes  himself  into  a  feather,  and  allows  himself  to  be  blown  about 
by  the  wind,  in  order  to  accomplish  his  purposes,  appears  also  in 
"The  Corn  Woman  and  the  Buffalo  Woman."  The  underground 
abode  of  the  animals  figures  in  the  story  of  "  Ictinike,  the  Brothers 
and  Sister,"  while  there  are  several  minor  coincidences  which  are  of 
interest  as  showing  similar  habits  of  thought  among  widely  separated 
tribes. 

The  next  story  belongs  to  a  cycle  of  animal  myths,  chiefly  of  an 
amusing  character,  in  which  the  rabbit  is  the  principal  hero  and  the 
author  of  all  the  mischief.  They  resemble  the  Uncle  Remus  sto- 
ries, which  I  hope  yet  to  prove  are  of  Indian  origin.  The  animals 
of  the  Cherokee  stories  had  chiefs  and  town-houses,  could  talk  and 
sing  and  play  ball,  held  dances  and  councils,  and  went,  to  war.  They 
were  of  gigantic  size,  and  finally  left  the  earth  and  "  went  up."  The 
degenerate  specimens  that  we  are  accustomed  to  see  are  but  poor 
counterfeits,  which  came  on  the  stage  at  a  later  period. 

HOW  THE  DEER  OBTAINED  HIS  HORNS. 

In  the  old  days  the  animals  were  fond  of  amusement,  and  were 
constantly  getting  up  grand  meetings  and  contests  of  various  kinds, 
with  prizes  for  the  winner.  On  one  occasion  a  prize  was  offered  to 
the  animal  with  the  finest  coat,  and  although  the  otter  deserved  to 
win  it,  the  rabbit  stole  his  coat,  and  nearly  got  the  prize  for  himself. 
After  a  while  the  animals  got  together  again,  and  made  a  large  pair 
of  horns,  to  be  given  to  the  best  runner.  The  race  was  to  be  through 
a  thicket,  and  the  one  who  made  the  best  time,  with  the  horns  on  his 
head,  was  to  get  them.  Everybody  knew  from  the  first  that  either 
the  deer  or  the  rabbit  would  be  the  winner,  but  bets  were  high  on 
the  rabbit,  who  was  a  great  runner  and  a  general  favorite.  But  the 
rabbit  had  no  tail,  and  always  went  by  jumps,  and  his  friends  were 
afraid  that  the  horns  would  make  him  fall  over  in  the  bushes  unless 
he  had  something  to  balance  them,  so  they  fixed  up  a  tail  for  him 
with  a  stick  and  some  bird's  down. 


Myths  of  the  Chcrokees.  107 

"Now,"  says  the  rabbit,  "let  me  look  over  the  ground  where  I  am 
to  run." 

So  he  went  into  the  thicket,  and  was  gone  so  long  that  at  last  one 
of  the  animals  went  to  see  what  had  become  of  him,  and  there  he 
found  the  rabbit  hard  at  work  gnawing  down  bushes  and  cutting  off 
the  hanging  limbs  of  the  trees,  and  making  a  road  for  himself  clear 
through  to  the  other  side  of  the  swamp.  The  messenger  did  not  let 
the  rabbit  see  him,  but  came  back  quietly  and  told  his  story  to  the 
others.  Pretty  soon  the  rabbit  came  out  again,  ready  to  put  on  the 
horns  and  begin  the  race,  but  several  of  the  animals  said  that  he  had 
been  gone  so  long  that  it  looked  as  if  he  must  have  been  cutting  a 
road  through  the  bushes.  The  rabbit  denied  it  up  and  down,  but 
they  all  went  into  the  thicket,  and  there  was  the  open  road,  sure 
enough.  Then  the  chief  got  very  angry,  and  said  to  the  rabbit, 
"  Since  you  are  so  fond  of  the  business,  you  may  spend  the  rest  of 
your  life  gnawing  twigs  and  bushes,"  and  so  the  rabbit  does  to  this 
day.  The  other  animals  would  not  allow  the  rabbit  to  run  at  all 
now,  so  they  put  the  horns  on  the  deer,  who  plunged  into  the  worst 
part  of  the  thicket,  and  made  his  way  out  to  the  other  side,  then 
turned  round  and  came  back  again  on  a  different  track,  in  such  fine 
style  that  every  one  said  he  had  won  the  horns.  But  the  rabbit  felt 
sore  about  it,  and  resolved  to  get  even  with  him. 

One  day,  soon  after  the  contest  for  the  horns,  the  rabbit  stretched 
a  large  grape-vine  across  the  trail,  and  gnawed  it  nearly  in  two  in 
the  middle.  Then  he  went  back  a  piece,  took  a  good  run,  and 
jumped  up  at  the  vine.  He  kept  on  running  and  jumping  up  at  the 
vine,  until  the  deer  came  along  and  asked  him  what  he  was  doing. 

"Don't  you  see.'"  says  the  rabbit.  "I'm  so  strong  that  I  can 
bite  through  that  grape-vine  at  one  jump." 

The  deer  could  hardly  believe  this,  and  wanted  to  see  it  done.  So 
the  rabbit  ran  back,  made  a  tremendous  spring,  and  bit  through  the 
vine  where  he  had  gnawed  it  before.  The  deer,  when  he  saw  that, 
said,  "  Well,  I  can  do  it  if  you  can."  So  the  rabbit  stretched  a  larger 
grape-vine  across  the  trail,  but  without  gnawing  it  in  the  middle. 
Then  the  deer  ran  back  as  he  had  seen  the  rabbit  do,  made  a  power- 
ful spring,  and  struck  the  grape-vine  right  in  the  centre  ;  but  it  only 
flew  back,  and  threw  him  over  on  his  head.  He  tried  again  and 
again,  until  he  was  all  bruised  and  bleeding. 

"Let  me  see  your  teeth,"  at  last  said  the  rabbit.  So  the  deer 
showed  him  his  teeth,  which  were  long  and  sharp,  like  a  wolf's  teeth. 

"No  wonder  you  can't  do  it,"  says  the  rabbit;  "your  teeth  are 
too  blunt  to  bite  anything.  Let  me  sharpen  them  for  you,  like  mine. 
My  teeth  are  so  sharp  that  I  can  cut  through  a  stick  just  like  a 
knife."     And  he  showed  him  a  black-locust  twig,  of  which  rabbits 


io8  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore. 

gnaw  the  young  shoots,  which  he  had  shaved  off  as  well  as  a  knife 
could  do  it,  just  in  rabbit  fashion. 

The  deer  thought  that  was  just  the  thing.  So  the  rabbit  got  a 
hard  stone,  with  rough  edges,  and  filed  and  filed  away  at  the  deer's 
teeth,  until  they  were  filed  down  almost  to  the  gums. 

"  Now  try  it,"  says  the  rabbit.  So  the  deer  tried  again,  but  this 
time  he  could  n't  bite  at  all. 

"Now  you've  paid  for  your  horns,"  said  the  rabbit,  as  he  laughed 
and  started  home  through  the  bushes.  Ever  since  then  the  deer's 
teeth  are  so  blunt  that  he  cannot  chew  anything  but  grass  and  leaves. 

James  Mooney. 


